View Poll Results: First Oil Change for New Motor- Dino or Synthetic?

This is a discussion on First Oil Change For New Motor - Dino or Synthetic within the General Maintenance, Troubleshooting & Accidents. forums, part of the Tech & Modifying & General Repairs category; I have been reading the SRT-4 owners manual, and on page 139 and I quote:
"The manufacturer recommends the use ...

First Oil Change For New Motor - Dino or Synthetic

I have been reading the SRT-4 owners manual, and on page 139 and I quote:

"The manufacturer recommends the use of Mobil 10W-30 Synthetic Engine oil."

Does this mean right after the break in period. I have read and have been told by people that you are supposed to use DINO oil on a new motor for the first 5k miles, then switch to synthetic. So please participate in my poll.

do you have an SRT-4? If so I would go with the manual. But otherwise I always feel it's better to wait too long then to put synth in too early. I switched at 10k so I know my engine was fully broken in.

Re: First Oil Change For New Motor - Dino or Synthetic

Originally posted by KurleeDaddeeWRX I have been reading the SRT-4 owners manual, and on page 139 and I quote:

"The manufacturer recommends the use of Mobil 10W-30 Synthetic Engine oil."

Does this mean right after the break in period.

Yes, presumably. What it really means is at the first oil change; this is usually after the break in period. If they rec M1 10W-30, by all means when you swap the oil just use that.

I have read and have been told by people that you are supposed to use DINO oil on a new motor for the first 5k miles, then switch to synthetic. So please participate in my poll.

I've heard that too, repeatedly. Yet nobody has come forward with data that I've seen - just anecdotal personal stories. That's fine, as it gives an idea of what might be happening, but it's not definitive so who knows. In any case, if you follow the manual you cannot go wrong.

Do you know if the maker uses a special break-in oil, or if they simply use a regular motor oil (like Subaru does, for example)?

WRX Info Links, Courtesy TheJMan is a brute.... If you're cruel to him, he respects and fears you. If you're kind to him, he plucks your eyes out. Alexis ZorbasI lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again - I would. Benjamin Sisko
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are the author's alone and are inherently worthless.

Re: Re: First Oil Change For New Motor - Dino or Synthetic

Originally posted by SD_GR
[B]Yes, presumably. What it really means is at the first oil change; this is usually after the break in period. If they rec M1 10W-30, by all means when you swap the oil just use that.

I've heard that too, repeatedly. Yet nobody has come forward with data that I've seen - just anecdotal personal stories. That's fine, as it gives an idea of what might be happening, but it's not definitive so who knows. In any case, if you follow the manual you cannot go wrong.

Do you know if the maker uses a special break-in oil, or if they simply use a regular motor oil (like Subaru does, for example)?

Since you are the oil genius, (read many of your posts pertaining to oil and it byproducts), I will follow your suggestions. And yes, that is what the manual recommends. And they use the exact words in the manual "Mobil 1 10W-30 synthetic engine oil." And yes, if I have any problems with the motor later on using the synthetic, I will take it in on warranty I guess.

I have not found solid proof that Dodge uses special break-in oil, but assume they do.

I have a full case of Mobil 1 10W-30 sitting in my closet. I guess it will get used sooner than I expected.

If you assume they do use break in oil, leave it in there for the specified period. Then switch to whatever they recommend when they recommend.

If you do use the case of M1 you already have, you'll have difficulty establishing the date and mileage you used it at. It might be safer to buy fresh oil and filter and keep dated receipts so that you can document that you did timely maintenance. M1 won't go "bad" for years so you could always use your existing case later etc.

If you are really concerned about "proper break-in" with dino oil as the stories say, you could always stay with dino for a few oil changes if your manual allows that, then switch to M1 etc. The manual might just say "we recommend M1 but you can use any 10W-30 API SL" or something to that effect - if it does, that's another option.

What does your dealer use, by the way? That'd be quite telling and interesting to know.

WRX Info Links, Courtesy TheJMan is a brute.... If you're cruel to him, he respects and fears you. If you're kind to him, he plucks your eyes out. Alexis ZorbasI lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again - I would. Benjamin Sisko
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are the author's alone and are inherently worthless.

More food for thought

You might want to contact him and ask when he switched to synthetics, and if he is seeing any undue oil "use" or burning as a result etc. He seems to drag the car once in a while too, which makes his data and opinions all the more interesting.

WRX Info Links, Courtesy TheJMan is a brute.... If you're cruel to him, he respects and fears you. If you're kind to him, he plucks your eyes out. Alexis ZorbasI lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again - I would. Benjamin Sisko
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are the author's alone and are inherently worthless.

FWIW, The Evo comes off of the assembly line with with Mobil 1 synthetic in the engine and the owner's manual (and oil cap) say something similar to what your describing. I wouldn't be surprised if your SRT4 already has syn in it...

What that says is that they want you to use a 5W-30, not a 10W-30. I think the synth/dino issue is secondary to their main concern, meeting CAFE standards for fuel consumption.

Many of the posters there missed the point that it's the 5W bit that made a difference in mileage, and the oil happened to be a dino. So DC had to state "use this" since they qualified the car with that in testing. A 5W synth would have decreased fuel use too I'm betting - but that's not what they happened to use.

Many of the posters on that board are quite rude, incidentally.

Things are escalating with the whole fuel use thing in the US, with makers now spec'ing 0W-20 oils that are very thin for their motors. These motors, in other countries, might use a 5W-30 or "thicker" still.

I don't think that thread gets us anywhere with the current question, I'm afraid.

WRX Info Links, Courtesy TheJMan is a brute.... If you're cruel to him, he respects and fears you. If you're kind to him, he plucks your eyes out. Alexis ZorbasI lied. I cheated. I bribed men to cover the crimes of other men. I am an accessory to murder. But the most damning thing of all... I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again - I would. Benjamin Sisko
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed are the author's alone and are inherently worthless.

I don't think it matters if you go synth or not between 3000 and 10,000 miles. I guess the most significant consideration would be climate. I switched to synthetic at 3200mi because it was -45*F where I live, and I needed the lower pour point of a synthetic...especially with the turbo.

If you live someplace warm like Washington, though, I don't think it matters. Alot of people would even say it doesn't matter if you switch to synth at all as long as your OCI's (oil change intervals) are appropriate.

Being as neurotic as we are, though, we sure as hell switch to synthetic, and change our oil way before we need to, eh?

You might want to contact him and ask when he switched to synthetics, and if he is seeing any undue oil "use" or burning as a result etc. He seems to drag the car once in a while too, which makes his data and opinions all the more interesting.

So I contacted the guy from the link above, and he suggested I use 10W-30 conventional(dino) oil for my first change to make sure the motor is completely broken in. Then after a specified amount of miles, in my case another 1800 miles, drain it and go to synthetic.

I changed my oil today from break in oil to Castrol GTX 10W-30 conventional (dino) oil at 1225 miles on the car. At 3000, I will drain it all and go to Mobil 1 10W-30 for the rest of the summer, then 5W-30 for the winter.

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